Karthigai Deepam

Culture of origin: Hindu · Cultural

Holiday sources: Hinduism

Homes are lit with oil lamps, usually of clay. At Tiruvannamalai the day begins at 4 a.m. with the Bharani Deepam, lit inside the sanctum of the Arunachaleswarar temple, and at 6 p.m. the Maha Deepam, a great ghee lamp, is lit on top of the Arunachala hill. It recalls the legend of Shiva appearing as a huge column of fire when Brahma and Vishnu argued over which of them was greater. One of the earliest references to the festival is in the Tamil anthology Akananuru, of the Sangam period (200 BCE to 300 CE). Tamils keep it in India, Sri Lanka and wherever they have settled, and in Kerala it is Thrikarthika. The date here is Tiruvannamalai's: in 2025 the great lamp was lit on December 3, a day before the date some almanacs printed.